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Saturday, September 11, 2010

My Favorite Seiko Vintage Watch: Seiko 6138-0040 Bullhead

I'll take a side step from my list of favorite watches, which are basically watches that are still in production, and instead write about my favorite Seiko vintage watch: the Seiko 6138-0040 Bullhead.

from Isthmus of WUS' "How to Buy a Seiko Bullhead Guide"

The Seiko Bullheads were produced during the 70s and are available in two versions: a reddish brown version with gold sub-registers and a black version with steely blue sub-registers. Additionally the brown bullheads also come in “SpeedTimer” variants which are JDM only. There are two versions of the brown bullhead SpeedTimer. One is
marked "Seiko SpeedTimer" at the top of the dial; while the other
is marked "Seiko 5Sports SpeedTimer" at the top of the dial. International release Bullheads had the standard "Chronograph Automatic" markings. No black dialed "speedtimer" version was ever produced by Seiko.

I personally prefer the brown Bullhead version. IMHO, it has a more vintage feel and is the eye-catcher between the two variants. I guess I'm also influenced by the fact that I'm also eyeing an Omega Speedy, and I think the black Bullhead looks similar to the Speedy.

The Seiko Bullheads are powered by the Seiko's 6138 movement. Bullheads do not have a second hand. and as a result when the chronometer is not being used, only the hour and minute hands move and everything else is at zero. The movement is automatic, but can be hand wound.

As for the case, I haven't yet got the exact case height and diameter of the Bullhead but they look to be quite thick. The lug width is 20mm and the original bracelet is a folded steel fishbone style. I think it would look good on a strap too.

For a watch that is older than I am, I definitely think that the Seiko Bullhead still looks current and one vintage watch I wouldn't mind getting my hands on. Listings in ebay are priced between USD200-300, but buyers should beware that there are a lot of frankens listed out there. Though I'm itching to get my hands on a brown Bullhead, I haven't seen any yet that are worth buying as there seems to be always something missing or wrong about the Bullehads in ebay. I'm not in too much of a hurry though, if this watch has been available for the past 3 decades, I'm sure a couple of years won't matter that much.